


Stars and the Moon

by MiyuKuran



Category: Winx Club
Genre: A little angst, Discrimination, Drinking, F/M, Fluff, OC's - Freeform, Song Lyrics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-22
Updated: 2018-06-22
Packaged: 2019-05-26 23:27:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15011729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MiyuKuran/pseuds/MiyuKuran
Summary: At a ball, Brandon finds himself out of his element. However, Stella thrives most when all eyes are on her. Brandon is fine with that after all Stella has always been a star.





	Stars and the Moon

**Author's Note:**

> Based on the song, "Stars and the Moon" from the musical revue, Closer Than Ever.

Brandon wanted to hurl, no really he honestly felt like he could puke at this very moment, but it had nothing to do with the fancy h'orderves that tasted like crap or the horrible taste of the champagne(It seemed no matter how hard Sky tried he would never get a taste for the stuff). However, it was the fact that he was currently here at this ball. He loved Stella and Sky, but if they dragged him into another ball where he clearly didn’t fit in, he might just die. Still, he was lucky this time, he wasn’t suffering alone. Bloom had to be here too, and Brandon wasn’t sure which one of them was winning the who is more uncomfortable contest. Brandon looked up and spotted her on the Young king’s arm. They were talking to a young socialite from Eraklyon that Sky had known since childhood. While good nature the young women was a little dim and a product of her environment. She just didn’t know how to talk to real people, and from the smile that quite didn’t reach Bloom’s eyes, she must have said something to offend the princess. Brandon watched as Sky laughed a little too hard to be real and said something that clearly looked like a farewell, and the magical dimensions new power couple turned around and started making faces their way back to the corner that Brandon had claimed. Brandon meet Bloom’s eyes and held he back a loud and very inappropriate snort. She looked clearly weary and obviously wanted to be down with this whole affair. Brandon figured that placed her in the lead.

“I take it your conversation with the lovely Lady Marianne didn’t go well?” Brandon said holding back a smile, as Bloom looked so angry that her flame-like hair might catch fire.

“I don’t know why I even bother with these things!” Bloom hissed at him with an angry whisper.  “She literally asked me if my adoptive parents kidnapped and brainwashed me! Then when I said no, she told me they must be one of those “good” peasants!” Bloom grabbed some Champagne from the passing waiter. “What does that even mean???” Brandon could no longer hold back his laughter and let out a good chuckle.

“Marianne means well, Bloom, Its just that not everyone born with a golden spoon in their mouths can just end up like Sky here with a good head on their shoulders.” Brandon joked.

“Yeah well, I was lucky to have a friend who would knock me upside the head whenever I started acting like a brat.” Sky said elbowing Brandon in the side softly. “I know its really hard to from being in Magix to this, but you’re doing fine, much better than your first few balls and Galas. Not that you ever had any real problems at them.” Sky said.

“Yeah, I spilled wine on Queen Arianna of Isis my first or second ball so trust me when I say, Bloom, you’re doing great,” Brandon said trying to comfort the redhead. Bloom sighed. It had been over a year since they restored Domino, and Bloom had just had about enough of all her princessly duties she had to do. She honestly yearned for those days in Gardenia where here parents getting her a new bike was the high light of her year. Still, she loved her birth parents, and this ball to commemorate a new relationship between Eraklyon, Solaria, and Domino meant they had to force their younger daughter to attend even though they had their heir and firstborn back.

“Yeah, my parents said hopefully this will be the only event I’ll have to attend in a few months if nothing changes,” Bloom said hopefully. She didn’t catch the small wince Sky made, and Brandon remembered The former King’s birthday was coming up in a week, which meant another ball, that all three of them would have to attend. Brandon bit back a groan knowing Sky would want to break it his Fiancee gently.

“Actually about that, Bloom,” Sky started, Brandon rolled his eyes. Oh, boy did he not wanna be here for this. Soon his attention found his way to a Solarian Lady talking to what looked to be a Dominion nobleman. She was young and Brandon thinks he’s been introduced to her once or twice. probably one of the many Solarian ladies Stella used to be friends with. The only one whose name he bothered to remember was Nova’s, the minor nobility whom like Sky never got a big head on her shoulder. She had graduated from Alphea the year after Stella and Bloom, but Brandon wasn’t sure if she secured an invite to this specific party. Just for a second, Brandon caught the Lady’s eyes as she leaned in to whisper something to the man. Brandon resisted the urge to spit and turned back to his now arguing friends.

“You should have told me about this sooner! I already made plans with a few of the Alphea girls to do a little combat training.” Bloom said folding her arms against her chest.

“Bloom, I’m sorry I forgot to mention it to you, but your even your parents are going. We’re engaged you have to be there. You’re the future queen of Eraklyon, these are the kinda things we just have to grin and bear.”

“Well, I’m not Queen yet, maybe we can say I got sick or something.” Bloom pleaded, but the king shook his head as Bloom kept coming up with half-baked excuses to get out of the King’s birthday ball. Brandon Quickly downed his glass of champagne trying not to gag as he does so, hoping this night would soon come to an end.

“You okay there, buddy?” Sky’s voice brought Brandon out of his thoughts. He looked up to find Bloom and Sky staring at him, giving him a look he could only describe as in quizzical. “Maybe slow down on the drinks there. This isn’t Eraklyon where I can just discreetly put you back in your room you know?” Brandon rolls his eyes at Sky’s words.  Not that Brandon ever has or ever will get drunk in the presence of Sky. Technically even right now he was doing his duty to the Royal Family being Sky’s personal bodyguard. A task he had been given at the tender age of 13, this was the reason he had been knighted upon Sky’s ascent to the throne. Brandon also knew that the little glass of champagne would do little more than making the hours appear to move a little faster. And while Sky easily forgot Brandon position, Brandon never did.

“I’m Fine.” Brandon breathed out heavily.

“Are you sure?” Bloom said taking a step forward towards him looking up at him intimately. Before he could stop himself or realize he was doing it, his eyes flickered over to the two nobility chatting about him a few feet away. Bloom as usually was quick to pick up on his mistake and frowned more than likely coming to the same conclusion. “Oh, Brandon.” She said placing a comforting hand on his shoulder.

Brandon sighed, not really wanting to talk about it. “It’s fine really. I’m used to it.” Before when he was just dating Stella the nobility had no problem with him. More than likely because Brandon was just one of many boyfriends his princess has had, but when they became engaged. The nobility grew harsh with him, Brandon has entered rooms only for the talking to stop and has been the subject of their mockery for a while now. truly he was used to it.

“That doesn’t make it right,” Bloom said. Brandon shrugged. He wasn’t sure right or wrong even mattered in this scenario.

“Uh oh, we’ve got two coming this way 9 O’clock.” Both he had Bloom turned to find the same couple walking towards them. Bloom started to frown, but Brandon shook his head. She had to learn to play this game better than that. He moved to take his place behind Sky slightly to his right and kept his head down. If he were lucky they wouldn’t speak to him.

“Good evening, King Sky- Princess Bloom.” The Man said with a slight bow that the lady followed with a curtsey.

“Lord Lysander, It is good to see you again,” Bloom said cordially, but only barely so.

“I wanted to introduce to you, Lady Satine of Solaria. Our Families were quite close before Domino fell. Now that we’re back we were getting reacquainted.” He told her. Bloom nodded and tilted her head in acknowledgment.

“It is a pleasure to meet you, your highness.” Lady Satine greeted.

“I’m Sure.” Bloom returned looking down into her glass. To his left, Sky coughed then sent him a confused look. While Bloom was being a little rude, it was not enough to cause incident but enough to tell the women she was not wanted Besides Bloom was the one of higher social status if she really wanted to be rude no one really could stop her. Lord Lysander seem to take notice of the princess foul mood towards them and motioned for them to leave.

“Well, I’m sure you and your Majesty are very busy, Your Highness. We’re going to greet your parents now if you don’t mind.” Sky nodded, but Bloom spoke before the couple could escape.

“I’m sorry, I must be mistaken because I don’t believe I heard either of you greet, Sir Brandon.” Brandon’s head flew up and turned toward the princess. What was she doing?

“Excuse me?” Lady Satine said clearly confused. Technically speaking you never greeted the working folk in balls, and he was working.

“Princess Stella was just telling me about how kind you were when she introduced you two, at their engagement party. It seemed odd to me that you greeted King Sky and me, but not Sir Brandon. You are aquatinted, are you not?”

The Lady’s face grew red with embarrassment. They were aquatinted, through a horrible technicality Bloom had caught the woman in a horrible social blunder.

“Oh, I’m terribly sorry, Lord Lysander.” Bloom cut in before the woman could even stutter an answer. “I’m sure you remember Sir Brandon, He and Sky graduated from Red Fountain together, he’s one of the brave Specialists that helped me free Domino from the curse of the ancestral witches. He’s also engaged to Princess Stella of Solaria. We’ve been friends for what? Four Years?” before Brandon could stop him Sky corrected her.

“Five years, the Four of us all meet on the same day, remember ?” Sky corrected giving Bloom a confused look. He knew she knew that. Lord Lysander nodded.

“Well, then thanks are in order. I wouldn’t be standing here without you three,” Lord Lysander said clearly grateful.

“We were just doing our duty, Lord Lysander,” Brandon said quickly willing this moment to be over.

“Of course, Good day, King Sky, Princess Bloom, Sir Brandon,” Lysander said.

“You as well, Have a wonderful rest of the ball,” Bloom replied with a fake smile and a wave. Once they were out of earshot Sky turned to the two off them.

“You two wanna tell me what’s going on?” He asked with raised eyebrows.

Bloom put her hands on her hips, “They were obviously gossiping about Brandon earlier. Then they had the nerve to come over here and talk to us without even acknowledging him. Someone had to make sure they knew how rude they were being.” Bloom turned her head and lifted her nose in a haughty fashion. Clearly learned behavior from the girl’s best friend. With a shake of his head, Sky turned to Brandon.

“Did you hear what they said?” He asked. Brandon shook his head.

“No, not this time, but if I had to figure it out, it was probably about Stella and I’s engagement. While King Radius and Queen Luna adore me, the rest of the Solarian nobility don’t really want a lowly squire from a different realm to be married to their beloved princess.” Brandon said with a shrug. “Trust me when I say, I’m used to it. And Bloom thanks for standing up for me, but really I am working so technically she didn’t have to speak to me. I’m going to go get some air. I’ll see you guys later.” Brandon quickly walked off, not bothering to turn around as Bloom’s continuously quieting voice called out to him. She wasn’t following, Brandon figured he’d have to thank Sky for that later.

Unlike the ballroom in Eraklyon and Solaria, the Ballroom in Domino was on the first floor with its patio stretching out into the gardens. There were a few chairs and tables in place, but no one outside as the night was still young, Brandon knew that eventually, people would start to make their way out here. Though for now, Brandon was allowed a few moments of peace. Brandon sat down at a table and looked back through the opened doors into the sure enough his eyes quickly found Stella.

She was like the sun in a radiant burnt orange gown, that fit in all the right places. It seemed unlike him the people of the gala couldn’t get enough of her. She was in her element. Moving around people as if she were a fish in water. They were all amazed by her winning personality and her unmatched beauty. While every man believed the women that they loved was the most beautiful woman in the world Brandon knew without a doubt that Stella really was the most beautiful woman ever. She was his sun, and like the sun he basked and worshipped in her warmth and glow. Looking at her know, seeing her smiling talking to all these people. Hell, Even just seeing her in that dress was reward enough for coming here, and being reminded for the 100th time that he didn’t deserve her. If this was the price of Stella’s love he’d pay that 100 times over.

He wasn’t sure how long he had been watching Stella, but soon loud voices seemed to take his attention from the celestial being he called his Fiancée. He turned to find King Radius, and Queen Luna having words with each other, actually it was more like a full-blown argument. Poor Queen Miriam, Bloom’s mother, found herself in the middle of one of their tiffs. Brandon had been in the queen’s position once when he vacationed with the Solarian royal family last summer. It wasn’t fun, and honestly, Brandon spent most of the trip trying to distract Stella from their constant arguing. He wasn’t successful as she had left the beach house early to go back to Alphea, taking Brandon with her, and leaving her parents disappointed. Brandon didn’t watch the royals argue for longing knowing that in about a minute or two they would remember where they were and return to their respective ends of the room. Instead, Brandon looked around for Stella only to find that for once it was hard to find his sun. after scanning the room for a few seconds he eventually caught familiar blond hair leaving the ballroom. As quickly as he could Brandon got up and headed to the door to follow her, on the way out he caught Bloom’s eyes. Ever observant she must have caught Stella’s sneaky exit, and nodded for him to go after her. Brandon certainly didn’t need her permission but appreciated her letting him handle this by himself. He loved the girls, but he and the other guys agreed, getting one on one time with any of them, Stella being the worst, was difficult.

He went into the hallway to find it empty. Stella knew her way around the Palace here in Domino far better then he did. He almost wished that he had brought Sky or Bloom now, as he had no clue where she could have gone. He kept walking down the long corridor and soon the sound of piano music met his ears.

It wasn’t as much of a secret now, but  Stella was musically inclined. Before she was very hesitant to show her classical musical training, She wasn’t as talented as someone from Melody, and she never really had a passion for it. It was just something all princesses did. As Stella had put it, She might have been good at something if someone had ever let her focus on something other than her good looks. Brandon thought Stella was good at a lot of things, but no matter how many times he told her thought she always said she was nothing more than a pretty face. Brandon hoped that one day she would believe him.

As Brandon got closer to the room he heard the music come from he could hear a soft voice coming through.

_“I met a man without a dollar to his name,  
who had no traits of any value but his smile_

Brandon could hear the smile in her voice as she sang the line. He knew this song, Earth had multiple songs from live shows that Stella had fallen in love with while they fought the Wizards of the Black Circle on Earth. She enjoyed listening to them and going to them. Solaria had plenty of shows like that, and it reminded her of home. Brandon didn’t mind getting dragged to them, because Stella’s smile afterward was always so radiant.

_I met a man who had no yearn or claim to fame  
Who was content to let life pass him for a while,_

Brandon winced a little. No lie, this song hit a little close to home, and the ending happened far more often than the little fairy tale that happened to him and Stella. Honestly, Stella should have broken up with him during their first year after the revelation that he wasn’t Sky and instead just a poor squire. The poor son of the king’s favorite servant who lucked out and happened to be the same age as the king’s own son. An orphan boy with nowhere else to go once his father’s luck had run out. Brandon had been lucky, but only just so, and with Stella, he had hit the jackpot. He thanked any higher power listening every day for letting him met Stella and getting to do what he does every day.

_And I was sure that all I ever wanted  
Was a life like the movie stars led?_

That was true too, When They had started dating, and as much as Brandon doesn’t like thinking about it, Stella thought she was dating the very rich and prominent prince of Eraklyon. Brandon knew how much she raved about his so-called riches and the balls, and being with someone who was like her, but for some reason, she stayed with him when that all turned out to be not true. Helia had told him, that he kept Stella here on Earth, and in a way that was true. She did have a tendency to fly into the clouds, but anyone could have done that for her. It didn’t have to be him. When he had told Helia that the artist just shook his head and frowned. Clearly, Brandon wasn’t understanding what he wanted him too. Brandon often wondered if Sky would have really been the better choice for her, but looking at Sky and Bloom together Brandon knew better.

_Then he kissed me right here  
and he said…”_

Before Stella could even move onto the chorus Brandon came into the room singing it for her. He wasn’t the best singer in his group of friends or the second best, those spots were held, by Riven(whom Brandon suspected was also from Melody) and Helia who seemed to be apt in anything related to the arts, but Brandon could hold a tune easily, and he actually liked this song. It was funny but sad and he couldn’t let Stella finish this song on a sad note.

**"I’ll give you the stars and the moon  
and a soul to guide you   
and the promise that I’ll never go.**

Stella seemed surprised to see him but smiled after the initial shock. She had heard him sing before but he didn’t really make a habit out of it, she seemed to genuinely like it as she focused back on the piano intent to keep in accompaniment going. As he sang the song lower than intended.

_**I’ll give you hope to bring out all the life inside you,  
and the strength to help you grow.** _

**I’ll give you truth and a future  
that’s twenty times better  
Than any Hollywood plot.**

Brandon stepped forward taking Stella’s hand into his signing the last line without any music and looking her right in the eye.

**_And I hope you know, I’ll give you all I got.”_ **

That wasn’t how the song actually went. At the end of the chorus the woman rejects the man with nothing, who offers her a fulfilled life and another man who offer an adventurous life for a man with wealth, fame, and power only to realize years later that she never got what she really wanted, the figurative stars and the moon that the two men without money offered her. They weren’t this song, no matter how much they should be.

“Party’s a little dull without its stunning star to liven things up.” Brandon Commented. “Won’t you please come back?”

Stella frowned but threw herself into Brandon’s arms. She didn’t cry, She would never cry with a face full of make-up, but instead, she laid her head on Brandon’s shoulder careful not to ruin her perfectly applied make-up.


End file.
